5th seed Juan Martin Del Potro powered into round three of Wimbledon with an emphatic straight sets victory over serve and volley specialist Feliciano Lopez of Spain, who was well below par in the clash. The former US Open champion, finished the job in just one hour and 34 minutes after putting up a stunning display of power, precision, pace and depth on Court No. 1.
With the match billed as the battle of hefty servers, it was Lopez who wilted under the immense pressure which was built around him in the third game of the first set. The Spaniard produced an error-strewn game and it cost him dearly as he coughed up the break with a pair of unforced mistakes off the forehand. Del Potro consolidated the break with the minimum of fuss in the following game.
Eventually, the Argentine went on to seal the opening set in some style as he slammed down a wide ace. It was a serve dominated set, but after 33 minutes it was Del Potro, who had the vital lead in the encounter.
Lopez made a disastrous start to Set 2 as Delpo unloaded a forehand winner to snare a break point. Del Po secured the break as Lopez misfired off the same flank. The former World No. 4 then consolidated the early break with aplomb by manufacturing three aces in the next game. Minutes later, it went from bad to worse for Lopez as he lost his serve once again and Del Potro moved to 4-0 with a backhand winner. Del Potro broke Lopez for the third time in the seventh game and it gave him a commanding 2 set lead.
Del Potro’s rich vein of form and his tactics continued to pay him rich dividends as he claimed the all important service break in the fourth game of the third set. The Tower of Tandil consolidated with ease in the subsequent game and then swiftly went to 5-2 before wrapping up a comfortable victory with yet another break of serve in the eighth game.
